Winehouse honored, Hudson to sing Houston tribute.

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Adele, Skrillex Win Grammys

Whitney Houston’s fall attracted so much notice because she had so far to go, down from the clouds into an abyss.

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An Appraisal: Whitney Houston’s Voice of Triumph and Pain

Focused on Houston-based engineers.

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U.S. Preps Charges in BP Spill

Twenty-five years ago, Washington Post Magazine was launched. That doesn’t seem like many years, but life sure has changed. In 1986, terrorism was someone else’s problem, AIDS had only just become a household name, and we’d never seen a serious tech rally, much less a bust. Heck, Whitney Houston even had two hits on Billboard’s year-end singles chart. Read full article > >

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Washington Post Magazine’s 25th anniversary: 25 moments that changed Washington most since 1986

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig made two announcements today at the close of the owners meetings that will significantly alter the competitive shape of the sport. By 2013, the league will have constant interleague play and perhaps as soon as next season 10 teams will make the postseason rather than eight. Read full article > >

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Houston Astros shifting to AL; wild-card teams added

The Republican presidential candidates Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich shared the stage in Houston for what was styled as an old-fashioned issues-focused debate.

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Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich Meet For a Congenial Debate

Among the Republican candidates running for president in 2012, there’s been a whole lot of praying in public. Months before his Christian revival meeting in Houston, Rick Perry prayed, presumably to Jesus, for rain — though when he established the Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas back in April, the proclamation was nonsectarian. He told the Christian Broadcasting Network in August that he prays “every day” for President Obama and then said he wished God would give the president the “wisdom” to roll back health-care reform and get the Environmental Protection Agency off the backs of business. Read full article > >

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In GOP race, public prayers seem more political than personal

When Robert George moved to Washington several years ago, he said goodbye to his car before he left Texas. “I sold it before I got here,” said George, who abandoned Houston for Adams Morgan . “This is an urban environment not as geared to driving everywhere and parking.” Houston is a bit urban, too, but it sprawls across 8,778 square miles, compared with the District’s 68.3 square miles. And in Texas, the car is king. The District and its immediate suburbs are crisscrossed by subway and bus lines, downtown swarms with taxis, and the expanding network of bike lanes has increased the popularity of cycling. Read full article > >

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In bicycle friendly D.C., going car-free is increasingly common

Ever since Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) entered the race for president, the conventional wisdom has been that he could be a great primary candidate, but wouldn’t necessarily be the GOP’s strongest general election contender. “He can sound more Texas than Jerry Jones , George W. Bush and Sam Houston combined, and his muscular religiosity also may not play well at a time when the economy has eclipsed culture as the main voter concern,” wrote the Wall Street Journal editorial board. Added the National Review ’s Stanley Kurtz: “I think it’s fair to say that, as it stands today, he’d be a riskier pick than Romney.” Read full article > >

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What we know so far about Rick Perry’s electability

SPRING, TEX. — In a small courtroom north of Houston, a fourth-grader walked up to the bench with his mother. Too short to see the judge, he stood on a stool. He was dressed in a polo shirt and dark slacks on a sweltering summer morning. “Guilty,” the boy’s mother heard him say. He had been part of a scuffle on a school bus. Read full article > >

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In Texas schools, a criminal response to misbehavior

A decade-old racial discrimination case against Jim Crane, who put in the winning bid to take over the Houston Astros, could create a potential problem for Bud Selig.

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Bias Case May Pose a Problem for Bidder

While Allen Stanford was flying high, he and his colleagues spent more than $10 million on campaign contributions and lobbying payments to curry favor in Washington. But all that money was diverted from investors in what authorities have called an elaborate Ponzi scheme , second only to Bernard Madoff’s in U.S. history, according to court documents. Since Stanford’s arrest in 2009 , a court-appointed receiver for the Houston-based Stanford Financial Group has been struggling to reclaim investor funds paid out to in-house and contract lobbyists, financial advisers and others whose services may have helped enable the scheme. Read full article > >

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Lawmakers rebuff pleas to return funds from alleged Ponzi schemer

Classes ended the previous week and until summer session begins, the streets around town feel empty and parking is actually available on Virginia Tech’s campus. For a few moments, Rashad Carmichael is alone, skipping rope inside the Merryman Center. Though no one’s paying him to be here, this is his job now, he says, a regular 9-to-5 gig lifting weights, running suicides and waiting for the phone to ring. One week earlier, Carmichael, 22, had realized his dream. He spotted an unfamiliar 832 area code and knew his future was calling. Read full article > >

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NFL lockout puts Rashad Carmichael’s career with the Houston Texans on hold

Two planes were diverted Sunday after separate security incidents, one of which saw an “unruly” passenger try to open the plane’s exit door mid-flight. The event occurred on board a Continental flight headed from Houston to Chicago. A flight attendant…

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Man Tries to Open Plane Door Mid-flight

A private diplomatic mission to Libya by a former U.S. congressman, who wanted to meet Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and convince him to step aside, was paid for by two Houston businessmen whose firm brokers oil and gas deals in unstable countries.

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The Lede: Houston Oil Lobbyists Paid for Former Congressman’s Libya Mission